Pak excuse: Sacked minister should have stopped Cyril Almeida from writing ‘government-army rift’ story in Dawn

Pak excuse: Sacked minister should have stopped Cyril Almeida from writing ‘government-army rift’ story in Dawn

Pakistan has said that sacked information minister, Pervaiz Rashid, should have stopped Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida from writing a story that highlighted a rift between the country's civilian government and the army

A snapshot of the Cyril Almeida story on Pakistan government-military rift published in the Dawn.

Pakistan has said that sacked information minister, Pervaiz Rashid, should have stopped Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida from writing a story that highlighted a rift between the country’s civilian government and the army at a high-level security meeting on action against terrorists.

In a face-saving exercise, Pakistan had sacked Rashid on Saturday, saying the evidence suggested that the minister had leaked sensitive information about a “high-profile national security meeting”.

Nisar said that the information minister had summoned Cyril Almeida to his office. Dawn reported today Nisar as saying: “Pervaiz Rasheed called the reporter into his office. Through my entire investigation… I reached the conclusion that Pervaiz Rasheed should have told the reporter that this story is wrong, ‘Do not publish this story in view of national interest’.”

Nisar said that Rashid should have talked to Dawn editor Zaffar Abbas, Dawn’s management or the government. “He (Rashid) should have understood the implications of the story and stopped it,” he said.

The Dawn story had quoted Pakistani Punjab’s Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as saying as to how the Pakistani security establishment work behind the scene to set any arrested terrorist free. It also highlighted how there were concerns in Pakistan over the country’s global diplomatic isolation.

Since the publication of the story, Pakistan has claimed it was false.